Kindred spirits #2: Elle aime

After my involuntary blogbreak and the most hectic weeks maybe all-time, we are now more and more settling in our new home. In the coming weeks I will share with you parts of our new house, but for now I wanted to share with you the interview I had with Lisa Manuels owner of Shop elle aime. I love her illustrations and workshops, I made buttons and did a bookbinding workshop last weekend with tweeps Rivka from rrauw and Nina from Paper stories. Lisa is just the most lovely person and I was very pleased she agreed to answer my questions.

Who are you and what it is that you do exactly?

My name is Lisa Manuels and I make illustrations, I create, collect, sell and give workshops! In the north of Rotterdam I own a small shop named Elle aime. There I sell my own illustrations and creations, but also those of other designers and creators from all over the world. I also organise and teach many different creative workshops there.

How did you get to be so creative?

Probably because it runs in the family a little bit. Actually almost everyone I know is creative, everyone in his or her own way! My mother has been busy creating and crafting all her life, but as a little girl of twelve I never I didn’t see anything in it. Only later I started to appreciate the crafting, now I can’t live without!

Since when do you run your shop in Rotabs and what do you sell exactly?

My store opened on May 15 2011. I sell everything I think is beautiful, especially handmade gifts and accesoires. For instance cards by Margo Slingerland, printed things by Miko Design, jewelery by Reintroduced and porcelain by Kim Welling. I also sell masking tape: not handmade, but still really pretty!

What are your dreams for the future?

My dream is to be able to be creative my whole life. I get very happy when I think of a workshop or teach one or when I make illustrations. So I hope to continue doing this for a long time! Next to this I would very much like to make a book with all kinds of great DIY projects. Who knows…

Which other designers / illustrators do you admire and why?

There are so many designers and illustrators I look up to! A few of them are for instance:

My initials are L and M and when pronounced out loud they sound like ‘ elle aime’ . ‘ Elle aime’ means ‘ she loves’ in French which suits my shop perfectly, I only sell things that I love and support! During my search for a name illustrator Laure Manfre (also L.M.!) came up with this name and fortunately I was allowed to use it!

Where do you see yourself in ten years?

In ten years I hope to own a somewhat larger shop / workshop space, a really nice group of creative people surrounding me and a lot of inspiration still! Of course I also hope to live together with my boyfriend Floris and maybe together with some Lisaatjes and/ or Florisjes!

{All photographs are made by me / the laser cut brooches are a colloboration between Lisa and Made by White / Lisa’ s work can be found on Etsy}